Zephyr Hawk

When the elves started their project to expand the inverted fungal forest on the roof of Na Essad one of the worst problems they faced were assorted feral creatures of elemental air that inhabited the upper reaches of the gigantic cavern. It wasn’t that these elementals were individually dangerous, but they were destructive and effectively immortal, and most of them were insubstantial, which made them particularly hard to ward off, and they were common. Beings of elemental air were among the most common survivors of the transition to Na Essad before the coming of Vostin. Faced with hordes of destructive elementals, the Elves searched for a natural predator for insubstantial creatures control method. Eventually they found a small air elemental that hunted even smaller elemental. A few decades of work, including crossing it magically with a hunting hawk, and the elves had an elemental predator the size of a horse that they could train to take a rider, and that aggressively hunts creatures of elemental air. A Zephyr hawk is a large hawk shaped mass of roiling air and steam, a great predator that can become substantial at will. A trained zephyr hawk will remain substantial as long as its rider remains seated on its saddle. They have true sight to a range of a hundred feet, but hunt other, invisible elementals from much further away by the active patterns of disturbance they create. A hunting Zephyr Hawk will watch for a moving disturbance in the fungal canopy and rapidly close into true seeing range. Their beak and talons are capable of grasping insubstantial creatures, even when they are in their solid forms. Creatures of air and chaos, Zephyr hawks are partially embodiments of the storm. Their call is shattering at close range, doing thunder damage to everything around it. The hawks themselves are resistant to thunder, a resistance they can share with an experienced rider. The elves carefully guard the secrets of raising these creatures from the rest of Na Essad, and it is exceedingly rare that an outsider will be allowed to even ride one. Given how dangerous a clutch of untrained fledglings can be, very few people take more than a passing interest in raising them. It is also exceedingly difficult to steal amount that can turn insubstantial at will.